Apparatus for bulking yarn

ABSTRACT

This invention provides apparatus and method of treating synthetic thermoplastic continuous filament yarns having latent crimp or bulkiness to develop such bulkiness and to entangle the filaments so that the yarns from one treating position to another like treating position on a yarn texturing machine is uniformly bulked and tangled. This is accomplished by separately gear crimping at least two yarns. Immediately after the crimping operation the yarns are passed through separate fluid treating jets wherein the crimped yarns are bulked and the filaments thereof are entangled. The thus-treated yarns are separately collected in a uniform manner. At least one of the yarns is deflected slightly just prior to entering the jet by means of an adjustable yarn guiding surface to carefully position the yarn in the jet and to control the uniformity of the fluid treatment from one yarn end to another.

United States Patent 1 Smith, Jr. July 17, 1973 APPARATUS FOR BULKING YARN [75] Inventor: Leonard A. Smith, Jr., Greenwood, ABSTRACT This invention provides apparatus and method of treat- 73 Assignee; Monsanto Company, Louis, Mo. ing synthetic thermoplastic continuous filament yarns I having latent crimp or bulkiness to develop such bulki- [22] Fled: 1972 ness and to entangle the filaments so that the yarns 21] Appl 231,915 from one treating position to another like treating position on a yarn texturing machine is uniformly bulked V and tangled. This is accomplished by separately gear [52] US. Cl. 28/l.4 crimping at least two yams Immediately after the [51] Int. Cl 002g 1/16 crimping operation the yams are passed through Scpa [58] Field of Search 28/l.4, 72.12 rate treating j wherein the crimped y are bulked and the filaments thereof are entangled. The [56] References C'ted thus-treated yarns are separately collected in a uniform UNITED STATES PATENTS manner. At least one of the yarns is deflected slightly 3,38l,346 5/1968 Benson 2811.4 just prior to entering the jet by means of an adjustable 3,402,446 9/1968 Benson.... 28/1.4 yar'n guiding surface to carefully position the yarn in 3,577,614 5/1971 Price 28/].4

I the jet and to control the uniformity of the fluid treatment from one yarn end to another 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL 7 I975 SHEET 1 [IF 2 FIGJ,

PATENIED JUL 7 I973 sum 2 OF 2 v FIG.6.

. FIG.4.

APPARATUS FOR BULKING YARN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various procedures are known for producing synthetic thermoplastic continuous filament yarns that possess a crimpiness or potential crimpiness. These yarns have advantageously been used in the construction of fabrics, for example carpets, where the cover of the yarns is a desirable feature. One type of potentially crimpable yarn can be made by the hot-stretch gear texturing process disclosed by Bromley et al in US. Pat. No. 3,024,517. In certain instances it has been found that manipulation of potentially crimpable yarn is easier; and a more stable and desirable fabric structure is achieved if the potential crimp of the yarn is not fully developed until after the greige fabric has been made.

However, as the operating speeds of more modern tufting machines increased in commercial carpetmaking mills, it was found that completely unbulked textured yarns do not run without causing an intolerable number of tufting defects. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,610 a procedure is disclosed for treating yarn having a potential crimp such as that imparted in synthetic thermoplastic multifilament yarn by following the teaching of US. Pat. No. 3,024,517.

The treatment develops the latent bulkiness of the yarn and imparts some entangling of the filaments of the yarn. The resulting yarn has the bulk and filament coherency so that it can be utilized in high speed tufting machines with excellent mill efficiency. Briefly stated, the procedure involves gear-crimping of filamentary yarn and then passing the yarn under reduced tension through a jet wherein a pressurized heated fluid develops the latent bulkiness and entangles the filaments thereof.

Unfortunately, the yarns resulting from following the procedure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,610 are not uniformly tangled from one yarn end to another. This lack of uniformity is only slight and is not noticeable in many carpet constructions. However, when a tufted carpet of cut pile construction is made, slight visible defects are sometimes noticed. Upon close investigation it was observed that the defects were the result of light reflectance variations caused by an-occasional yarn end not being uniformly bulked and tangled. The bulking and tangling phenomena taking place in the bulking jet of US. Pat. No. 3,457,610 involve many complex variables difficult to control in a large scale production where many hundred ends of yarns are being processed at one time.

The present invention provides a simple and effective way of controlling the uniformity of crimped yarn that is tangled and bulked in a jet device. Any variation from one end of yarn to another end is minimized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There is provided a device for treating continuous multifilament yarn to bulk same and to entangle the filaments uniformly from one yarn end to another. The device includes a yarn jet having a bore extending axially therethrough wherein the yarn is treated with a heated fluid as the yarn is overfed and moves longitudinally therethrough. The device is preferably employed in the yarn path just after the yarn has been gearcrimped. An eccentrically adjustably mounted guide adjacent the yarn entry port of the jet is used to deflect the yarn laterally as needed to assure tangle uniformity of the yarn from one processed yarn and to another end. In operation the yarn treated in the jet device is tested for tangles using known needle slip tests. If the measured number of tangles per unit of yarn is lower or higher than an established number, the extent to which the yarn is deflected is adjusted by proper movement of the eccentric guide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment used for practicing the invention showing the jet device in longitudinal section.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view of the eccentric yarn guide shown in the first figure.

FIG. 3 is a central section showing an embodiment in which the jet insert and eccentric yarn guide are in a position that the yarn moving through the jet is not deflected as though no guide were used.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of another embodiment illustrating a different eccentric yarn guide.

FIG. 5 is a top view in partial section taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4 showing the eccentric yarn guide.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view partly in section showing a part of the eccentric yarn guide of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The apparatus and process of the invention may be readily understood by reference to the drawing.

In FIG. 1 apparatus is shown for crimping yarn and then bulking and tangling the filaments thereof in a controlled manner. Numeral 1 denotes longitudinally moving synthetic thermoplastic filament yarn, such as nylon or polyester. The yarn is drawn or partially drawn. Crimp is imparted to the yarn by being passed through the mesh of crimping gears 2 and 3. Although the yarn is shown as passing through the gears once, it is advantageous particularly for heavy denier yarns of 500 denier and up to pass the yarn between the gears two, three, or more times by using a separator roll (not shown) as is well known.

After being crimped, yarn 1 is overfed through an elongated yarn fluid jet device 4. The device comprises a housing 5 having a fluid or steam inlet conduit 6 and a fluid or steam outlet conduit 7. The fluid flows through the housing plenum 8 to provide a heated environment for the yarn as it passes through the device. Within the housing a venturi jet insert 10 is secured. Such a jet is more particularly described in Lamb et al. US. Pat. No. 3,609,834. The overfeed of the yarn through the jet is normally in the range of l5-60 percent. The fluid is preferably steam of to 235C. moving at a high velocity.

Jet 10 as shown herein is composed of a cylindrical body 11 having a central yarn passage with flaring ends 12 and 13 and being constricted at point 14. In the flaring end 13 a plurality of fluid inlets are provided. In a preferred embodiment a first inlet 15 is diametrically opposed to a second inlet 16 and just downstream is a third inlet 17. Preferably, the treating fluid is emitted in a direction sloping toward the point of yarn exit from the jet; and the emission is adjacent the point where the yarn passes through the expansion section of the jet venturi. Treating fluid from plenum 8 flows through conduit 18 and via an annular chamber through the inlets into treating contact with yarn 1. After leaving the housing, the yarn is collected in package form using, for example, a conventional winder and a paper tube.

Adjacent flaring end 12 of insert is a disc secured to the housing 5 by means of a set screw 21 in collar 22. The collar is bolted to the housing by means of bolts 23. Extending through the disc is an eccentrically arranged hole 24. The disc is rotatably adjustable. As can be seen in F IG. 2 the disc has indicia for indicating the rotational position of the disc with reference to the departure of zero reference from the fixed line scored on collar 22. As the disc is rotated from one fixed position to another the yarn is deflected or laterally moved from a straight passage thereof through the jet insert. In FIG. 1 the jet disc has been rotated to shift the yarn from taking a straight path through the jet to 15 one where the yarn is guided nearer the right side of the jet by the eccentric disc 20.

In FIG. 3 the disc is eccentrically mounted and is rotated to a position that the eccentric hole 24 is in alignment with the yarn passage through the insert 10 in which event the disc does not deflect the yarn to one side or the other. However, in most cases it is not possible to align the eccentric hole with the yarn passage of the insert.

In FIGS. 4-6 a different eccentric guide arrangement 25 is shown. In this case a collar 26 is bolted to the housing 5 just above the insert 10. Extending from collar 26 are a plurality of ears 27 adapted to mate with corresponding slots 28 on the internal surface of guide-carrying ring 29. A yarn pigtail guide or eyelet 30 is secured to an upright portion 31 of the ring 29. The guide is horizontally adjustable to deflect the yarn from a normally straight path taken through the collar and jet. By rotation of the ring 29 and horizontal movement of the guide 30, the precise entry angle of the yarn into the jet can be adjusted and controlled. An illustrative example of the practice of the invention follows.

EXAMPLE Twenty ends of undrawn nylon-66 yarn of trilobal cross section were stocked on a 20 position gear texturing machine as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,610. Each end had an ultimate drawn flat denier of about 2460. The ends were passed between a driven feed roll and its associated idler cot roll. Each end was passed around a heated draw pin at about 165C. and then through the nip of two intermeshing toothed drawrolls that are driven at a peripheral speed several times greater than the speed of the feed roll so that the heated yarn is given an orientation stretch of 3.0 X while hot and is deformed and cooled as it passes several times between the denticulated rolls. The yarns issuing from the hot-stretch gear crimping operation possessed a latent crimp or bulkiness that can be developed by heating the yarn under conditions of low tension as is well known. The yarns were passed through separate fluid jets as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,834. The amount of overfeed to the jet was 2 3 percent and the temperature of the stream used in the treatment was 185C. The twenty ends of the resulting textured yarns were collected at a speed of 400 yards per minute on a paper tube using a conventional winder. Thereafter, the yarns were tufted into a woven jute backing material to make a pile carpet of high-low loop construction. During the commercial dyeing and finishing of the carpet the high pile sections were sheared. It was observed that the resulting carpet did 5 a hysteresis. The tangle counting device consists of a wheel having a peripheral groove with needles set therein to engage the yarn. The wheel is set on a shaft that is loaded to resist turning, with the load being predetermined. Yarn undergoing testing is pulled over the 10 wheel with a needle slipping between the filaments.

When a tangle is encountered, the shaft loading is overcome to rotate the wheel. A cam-switch assembly counts the number of times the wheel is advanced per unit length of yarn. A system of guides and tensioning devices is used to maintain yarn position so that one needle is in contact with the yarn at all times during the test. Also, means for advancing the yarn at a uniform rate during testing is provided. The tangle count measured from 10 per 10 feet for one end up to 85 per 10 feet for another end of the 20 ends processed. By using the yarn deflecting guide above the jet and empirically adjusting the guide, the tangle in all twenty ends were adjusted to be between 50-60 tangles per 10 feet of yarn. These twenty ends were tufted into a backing material to make a pile carpet of high-low loop construction. The high pile sections were sheared. However, in this case the visual defects as above-mentioned were not present.

The advantage of using the procedure of the present invention is clear. By carefully controlling the precise entry angle of the yarn into a fluid bulking and tangling jet, the non-uniformity of tangle from one processed end to another can be minimized. From such uniform 35 yarn, excellent pile fabrics can be produced. In particular sheared tip pile carpets are virtually free of visual defects resulting from using yarns of greatly different tangle values.

I claim:

1. A device for treating continuous multifilament yarn to bulk same and uniformly to entangle the filaments thereof comprising:

a. a housing having a bore extending axially therethrough wherein the yarn normally is treated with a fluid as the yarn moves longitudinally therethrough;

b. a port in said housing connected with a source of pressurized fluid; and

c. an eccentrically adjustably mounted guide adjacent the yarn entry port of said housing to deflect the yarn laterally and thereby to position the yarn and to control the uniformity of the fluid treatment from one such device to another such device.

2. A yarn processing assembly comprising in combifluid treatment from one such device to another c. a yarn guiding eyelet eccentrically adjustably Such devicemounted adjacent the yarn entry into said jet;

y P clfllm 2 'f the P? whereby upon adjustment of the position of said eye- "eatmg i dlrelftlon P 8 dn'ecnon of let the yarn being treated with said fluid is slightly the yam em 2 3 ad-lacetft the 9 where h deflected to position the yarn and to control the zzzz g mug t e expanslon secnon of the Jet uniformity of the fluid treatment from one such deto another such device.

4. A arn rocessm assembl com mm in combivlce nationzy p g y p g 5. The assembly of claim 4 wherein the ports emit a. a yarn jet venturi device for bulking and entangling 10 treatmg f m a f m dlrecuon of filaments f a continuous filament the yarn exit from the et ad acent the point where the b. a plurality of opposed ports in said jet device pro- Y Passes through the expansion section of the jet viding entry of pressurized fluid to treat yarn movventuri. ing therethrough; and 

1. A device for treating continuous multifilament yarn to bulk same and uniformly to entangle the filaments thereof comprising: a. a housing having a bore extending axially therethrough wherein the yarn normally is treated with a fluid as the yarn moves longitudinally therethrough; b. a port in said housing connected with a source of pressurized fluid; and c. an eccentrically adjustably mounted guide adjacent the yarn entry port of said housing to deflect the yarn laterally and thereby to position the yarn and to control the uniformity of the fluid treatment from one such device to another such device.
 2. A yarn processing assembly comprising in combination: a. a yarn jet venturi device for bulking and entangling filaments of a continuous filament yarn; b. a plurality of opposed ports in said jet device providing entry of pressurized fluid to treat yarn moving therethrough; c. a disc rotatably positioned adjacent the yarn entry into said jet; and d. means defining an eccentrically positioned hole extending through the disc; whereby upon rotation of the disc the yarn being treated with said fluid is slightly deflected to position the yarn and to control the uniformity of the fluid treatment from one such device to another such device.
 3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein the ports emit treating fluid in a direction sloping in the direction of the yarn exit from the jet adjacent the point where the yarn passes through the expansion section of the jet venturi.
 4. A yarn processing assembly comprising in combination: a. a yarn jet venturi device for bulking and entangling filaments of a continuous filament yarn; b. a plurality of opposed ports in said jet device providing entry of pressurized fluid to treat yarn moving therethrough; and c. a yarn guiding eyelet eccentrically adjustably mounted adjacent the yarn entry into said jet; whereby upon adjustment of the position of said eyelet the yarn being treated with said fluid is slightly deflected to position the yarn and to control the uniformity of the fluid treatment from one such device to another such device.
 5. The assembly of claim 4 wherein the ports emit treating fluid in a direction sloping in the direction of the yarn exit from the jet adjacent the point where the yarn passes through the expansion section of the jet venturi. 